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032 -- [Voice || Action]
[A ninja walks into the bar.
Okay, that's getting ahead of the story. Let's backtrack then. Not too far. Everything he's been through in the past two weeks doesn't need to be said. At least, this isn't the place for it. What's important to mention is that on March 27, Nara Shikamaru left Luceti, gone back to home and to war. He returned on the same day and got thrown into another, and coming back to day-to-day life in this village after has felt almost unreal.
It's been nearly two weeks, but it wasn't until today that any of it definitively sunk in. All of the deaths. Everything they've lost - that he's lost. That the fighting is over, even if the war isn't.
You wouldn't think moving on with your life would be the scariest thing about that.]
[Voice]
Yo. [The greeting comes after he's gotten a grip on himself, so lackadaisical you wouldn't know the difference.] Some of you might've noticed that old pizza place was being remodeled. It's taking longer than I thought, but I've been working on turning it into a convenience store since November. It can probably open soon.
I'm gonna stock it with the basics. Milk, bread... staples like that for when no one wants to walk all the way to the grocery. So what snacks and drinks do you guys want? I'm not going to the trouble of getting things it turns out no one likes. That way, they'll just sit on the shelf to collect grease and dust. That's gross.
[He waves lazily, like he gave up on the motion halfway through, and reaches over to switch the feed.] Lemme know.
[Filtered to Trafalgar Law || Unhackable]
Hey. Got what you asked of me too.
[/end Voice]
[Several hours later... A ninja walks into a bar, and for the first time orders not Mountain Dew, but Genshu sake. A whole bottle.
Convincing himself to drink is more difficult than ordering it, however. Shikamaru sits at the bar for a while, spending more time staring into his cup than lifting it to his mouth. It's not like he's in a rush. He made a point not to tell anyone what he was up to, just that he would be back late and would get dinner on his own. Eventually though, he does get to drinking. It's a lot easier once he's started, and he loosens up. He won't be at the bar long after that, called away on an errand which leads him down toward House 22.
(ooc: threads with Law and Masaomi will be canonically last for this part)
The next day... he has a hangover. And it sucks. 8|
But he has people to talk to. Sakura and Asuma are both on his list, if they're home. Ino is last, and not without Chouji to go with him. Anyone else in the building is welcome to run into him on this day too, of course.]
Okay, that's getting ahead of the story. Let's backtrack then. Not too far. Everything he's been through in the past two weeks doesn't need to be said. At least, this isn't the place for it. What's important to mention is that on March 27, Nara Shikamaru left Luceti, gone back to home and to war. He returned on the same day and got thrown into another, and coming back to day-to-day life in this village after has felt almost unreal.
It's been nearly two weeks, but it wasn't until today that any of it definitively sunk in. All of the deaths. Everything they've lost - that he's lost. That the fighting is over, even if the war isn't.
You wouldn't think moving on with your life would be the scariest thing about that.]
[Voice]
Yo. [The greeting comes after he's gotten a grip on himself, so lackadaisical you wouldn't know the difference.] Some of you might've noticed that old pizza place was being remodeled. It's taking longer than I thought, but I've been working on turning it into a convenience store since November. It can probably open soon.
I'm gonna stock it with the basics. Milk, bread... staples like that for when no one wants to walk all the way to the grocery. So what snacks and drinks do you guys want? I'm not going to the trouble of getting things it turns out no one likes. That way, they'll just sit on the shelf to collect grease and dust. That's gross.
[He waves lazily, like he gave up on the motion halfway through, and reaches over to switch the feed.] Lemme know.
[Filtered to Trafalgar Law || Unhackable]
Hey. Got what you asked of me too.
[/end Voice]
[Several hours later... A ninja walks into a bar, and for the first time orders not Mountain Dew, but Genshu sake. A whole bottle.
Convincing himself to drink is more difficult than ordering it, however. Shikamaru sits at the bar for a while, spending more time staring into his cup than lifting it to his mouth. It's not like he's in a rush. He made a point not to tell anyone what he was up to, just that he would be back late and would get dinner on his own. Eventually though, he does get to drinking. It's a lot easier once he's started, and he loosens up. He won't be at the bar long after that, called away on an errand which leads him down toward House 22.
(ooc: threads with Law and Masaomi will be canonically last for this part)
The next day... he has a hangover. And it sucks. 8|
But he has people to talk to. Sakura and Asuma are both on his list, if they're home. Ino is last, and not without Chouji to go with him. Anyone else in the building is welcome to run into him on this day too, of course.]
no subject
Only if you want. Promise I'll try not to sleep through it.
no subject
I think I'll spare us both. Unless you make a habit of it...
[She fixes him with a brief, half-teasing stern look.]
no subject
Habit, no. Not like that.
no subject
[But that's where the teasing ends, and once she's gotten his system hydrating itself efficiently, she draws back, uncertain of what to say next.]
I... I couldn't tell Ino. You understand.
[She couldn't be the bearer of bad news, couldn't come dropping into this place and shatter the serenity her friends had found here with devastating news. But the guilt still hangs over her for keeping secrets; a part of her wants to babble apologies, wants to perform some sort of atonement for essentially having lied to everyone for these past months.]
no subject
That's another reason why I wanted to talk to you today.
no subject
I'm listening.
no subject
Relax. It's nothing you have to worry about.
no subject
All right. What is it?
no subject
Chouji and I are going to tell her today.
[There's a 'but' hanging onto this sentence.]
no subject
If you think it's the best thing for her, then I'd support you on it.
[But he isn't just telling her -- there's more to it than that.]
no subject
[He trails off, frowning heavily with a look over his shoulder at the door. He hasn't seen either of them in a few days.]
We don't want Ino finding out like that. She deserves better, and friends to support her through it.
no subject
[But the sense of what he's saying is clear, and she nods.]
It was one thing when it was just me, or just me and Chouji. But you're right; the more people know, the worse it is.
I'm glad she'll have both you and Chouji there for this.
1/2
[Comforting? Not a thing that comes so naturally to him. Sakura's seen it herself, with Tsunade, when Jiraiya died. He feels like he's dodged a bullet, having Chouji here to back him up.]
I'm going to do what I can for her, not that I'm confident it'll see her to a good place. But you... [He frowns. Sakura is a lot of things. He doesn't think he can sum it up properly.] You're her best friend.
no subject
I came here to ask if you could stick with her, once she's had some space to digest it. Whatever way I look at it, I don't think I'll be able to do as much good for her as I'd like myself to.
no subject
And... for anyone else who needs it, too. [Ino isn't the only one to have suffered terrible loss in this war.
Maybe she wasn't born with the healer's nurturing urge, but she's picked it up pretty well anyway. She wants to do what she can, not just for Ino, but for all of them.]
no subject
[And he'll just... keep it at that for a moment, as he sips his water. Her comment's made him think of the others: Lee and Neji, specifically. This war has and will effect so many of them.]
no subject
[There are too many others -- even just here in Luceti, the number of them who have been touched (wounded, damaged, shattered) by the war is growing. It disturbs her.]